A note at the list's heading says it's a list of "full seasons missed by active players." Another note says, "Only men who played in an official N.F.L. game before entering military service are listed."Sonny9 wrote: ↑Sat Apr 06, 2024 3:06 pmHow many of those were stateside and still played?rhickok1109 wrote: ↑Fri Apr 05, 2024 4:18 pm Neft-Cohen's Pro Football: The Early Years lists all NFL players and their years of military service (pp. 160-161).
Here are the totals by year:
1941--44 (we tend to forget that the draft started in late 1940)
1942--202
1943--376
1944--418
1945--358
So, if a player is listed as being in service in 1942, it means that he played at least one game in 1941 and missed the entire 1942 season because he was in service.
Tony Canadeo, for example, is listed as being in the service only in 1945 but he missed most of the 1944 season, including the championship game.